Library 

OF  THE 

University  of  NortK  Carolina 

This  book  was  presented  by 

Oorr^e},'^  3,  Love-^ 


/yirf.  44-m 


REMARKS 


OF 


MR  S.-F.  PHILLIPS,  OF  ORANGE, 

In  the  IIounc  of  Commons  at  tlic  CaHctl  Session  of  the  ILcgisinturc,  Jarni. 
ary,  lit  Committee  of  the  Whole  upon  the  Question  of  udiuiHing 

Negro  Evidence  in  Courts  of  Justice. 


£ 


/ 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

Raleigh,  February  20,  1866. 

Hon.  S.  F.  PiiiLLrps,  Dear  Sir  : 

The  undersigned  having  listened  with  much 
pleasure  to  your  speech  in  committee  on  the 
whole,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  Freed¬ 
man’s  Code,  and  being  satisfied  that  it  will 
meet  the  views  of  a  vast  majority  of  the  people 
ot  North  Carolina,  and  will  be  of  great  bene¬ 
fit  in  assisting  our  people  to  come  to  a  correct 
understanding  of  our  great  political  changes  - 
respectfully  ask  of  you  to  furnish  a  copy  of  the 
same  for  publication; 


m 

m 


Lewis  Thompson, 
J.  F.  Hoke, 

J.  W.  Cameron, 
Jos.  H.  Hyman, 
W.  A.  Caldwell, 
W.  H.  Wheeler, 


Lttke  Blackmer, 

R.  Y.  Me  Aden, 

Ed.  C.  Yelllowley, 
Wm.  J.  Wilson, 

Jas.  C.  Harper, 

M.  L.  Holmes. 


Raleigh,  Feb.  28.  1866. 

Gentlemen. —  In  reply  to  your  note  of  the 
■£0th  inst.  1  submit  for  your  disposal  such  a  col¬ 
lection  ol  the  remarks  made  by  me  in  debating 
the  question  upon  Negro  testimony  as  my  mem¬ 
ory  enables  me  to  make. 

For  the  honor  which  you  have  done  me  in 
this  connection,  allow  me  to  express  to  yon  my 
sincere  acknowledgments. 

Very  Respectfully, 

8.  F.  PHILLIPS. 

To  Luke  Blackmer,  Esq.,  and  others  of  the 
House  of  Commons. 


In  the  House  of  Commons,  upon  the  31st  day 
of  January,  1866,  “a  bill  concerning  negroes,” 
&e.,  was  under  consideration  in  committee  of 
the  whole,  Mr.  Rayner  in  the  chair.  The  11th 
section  of  the  bill  having  been  read,  to  wit: 

“That  Persons  of  color  shall  be  capable  of 
b  earing  evidence  against  a  White  Person  in  con¬ 


r 


troversies  at  law  and  in  Equity  where  the  rights 
ol  person  or  property  of  Persons  of  color  shall 
be  put  in  issue,  and  would  be  concluded  by  tile 
judgment  or  decree  of  court,  and  also  in  the 
pleas  of  the  State  where  the  violence,  fraud  or 
injury  alleged  shall  be  charged  to  have  been 
done  by  or  to  Persons  of  color.  In  all  other 
civil  and  criminal  cases  such  evidence  shall  be 
deemed  inadmissible,  unless  by  consent  of  the 
parties  of  record.” 

Mr.  McNair  moved  to  strike  it  out,  and  the 
motion  was  successful.  Upon  application  by  Mr. 
Phillips,  however,  the  resolution  was  at  once  in¬ 
formally  reconsidered,  and  thereupon  lie  proceed¬ 
ed  to  address  the  Committee.  What  appears 
here  is  the  substance  ol’  his  remarks  din  ing  the 
debate,  which  extended  through  several  days. 

1  had  not  expected  that  a  motion  to  strike 
out  this  section  would  be  successful. 

1  had  hoped  that  the  Committee  would  silent¬ 
ly  come  to  a  diileront  conclusion.  I  had  hoped 
that,  without,  entering  upon  a  discussion  ot  that 
class  ot  arguments  which  are  general  1  y  .‘brought 
to  bear  upon  legislation,  the  policy  which  presses 
ns  would  be  so  clear  that  debate  would  be  waiv 
ed,  and  this  provision  passed  into  a  law  by  a 
vote  almost  universal. 

Confessing  some  disappointment  in  this  res¬ 
pect,  I  make  my  acknowledgements  to  the  Com 
mil, tee  for  that  reconsideration  which  allows 
the  matter  to  be  debated. 

The  question  before  us  is,  -  Whether  Negro  tes¬ 
timony  shall  be  heard  in  our  courts  of  justice  in 
all  cases  where  a  Negro  is  interested  that  it  slmll 
be  heard,  even  although  the  other  party  to  the 
suit  be  a  White  person.  It  is  not  proposed  in 
this  bill  to  hear  Negro  testimony  where  the  par 
ties  are  exclusively  White.  Nor  is  it  proposed 
that  in  the  cases  where  he  is  heard  he 
shall  necessarily  be  believed.  In  no  case  is  his 
evidence  to  go  for  more  than  it  is  warth.  He 


t 


e  behcvecWfl'fl v in  Jfrs3>l#SM?w^Tsiirate,  without 
the  Jl^y^r^Elie  Jucl^^ual] fleem  nim  worthy 
beiirg*ty5ltS?ecl.  '  lhe  capacity  of  thos?e  tribu- 


is  to  be 
or  the 
of 

uals,  especially  that  of  the  jury,  for  sifting  truth 
from  untruth  is  with  us  matter  of  long  stand¬ 
ing  satisfaction  and  boast.  To  them  it  is  pro¬ 
posed  to  submit  the  credibility  of  the  testimo¬ 
ny  of  Negroes,  and  that  without  the  smallest  re¬ 
striction  upon  those  established  rules  of  proce¬ 
dure,  that  long  practiced  and  powerful  common 
sense,  and  that  severe  scrutiny  which  mark  in¬ 
vestigations  in  our  courts  of  justice.  The  Ne¬ 
gro  is  not  to  be  imposed  upon  our  courts  as  one 
who  is  worthy  of  being  believed: — it  is  only 
said  that  he  shall  be  heard  in  all  cases  where 
one  of  his  own  color  is  interested  in  his  testi¬ 
mony.  Those  who  are  to  hear  him  are  to  be 
White  men,  and  White  men  exclusively.  In 
criminal  cases  he  is  first  required  to  state  his 
complaint  to  a  solicitor  ;  it  is  then  to  be  can¬ 
vassed  before  a  grand  jury,  and  only  after  his 
statements  have  secured  credit  before  these  pre¬ 
liminary  tribunals,  is  he  to  be  admitted  to  stand 
upon  the  witness  box  in  a  court  the  wdiole  of 
whose  machinery  judge,  jury  and  bystanders 
is  composed  of  White  men,  then  and  there  to 
undergo  cross  examination  as  to  the  truth  of 
his  statements.  In  civil  causes  the  machinery 
is  somewhat  less  complicated,  but  powerful 
enough  at  all  events,  when  accompanied  by  the 
natural  effects  of  race  and  color,  to  take  away 
all  reasonable  chances  of  any  White  man’s  re¬ 
ceiving  injury  therefrom.  That  Negro  testimo¬ 
ny,  under  such  circumstances,  is  to  pervert  the 
course  of  justice  in  North  Carolina,  is  to  me  a 
proposition  destitute  of  all  foundation.  I  ven¬ 
ture  to  say  that  with  these  surroundings,  these 
checks  and  balances,  the  testimony  of  Negroes  is 
never  to  affect  a  verdict  in  North  Carolina  ex¬ 
cept  where  it  ought  to  do  so, — and  that  if  ever 
hereafter  such  testimony  is  to  prevail  with  a 
jury,  that  result  will  be  under  circumstances 
that  will  command  the  applause  of  all  good 
men.  Under  the  embarrassments  that  must 
surround  their  statements,  these  can  never  pre¬ 
vail  with  judges  and  juries  except  truth  de 
mauds  that  they  shall ;  and  that  truth  shall 
ever  fail  of  her  legitimate  triumphs  in  our  tri¬ 
bunals  is  to  the  interest  of  no  good  citizen  of 
the  State — can  be  the  wish  of  no  good  citizen. 

Entering  very  fully  into  that  feeling  of  confi¬ 
dence  and  admiration  for  the  working  of  our 
system  of  distributive  justice,  which  long  ob¬ 
servation  of  its  results  is  well  calculated  to  in¬ 
spire,  I  am  thoroughly  impressed  with  a  belief 
that  the  fears  expressed  in  regard  to  the  present 
proposition  are  but  panic  fears.  I  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  that  they  prevail  to  any  considerable  ex¬ 
tent  with  the  quiet  and  gallant  people  that  fills 
this  State.  One  cannot  reflect  upon  the  gauntlet 
as  it  were,  which  the  negro  witness  has  to  run 
before  he  can  secure  credence  in  our  courts* 


being 


overcome 


with  a  sense  of  tl  © 
ludicrous  upon  recurring  to  the  apprehensions 
which  are  said  to  exist  as  to  the  tremendous 
consequences  of  its  admission.  With  all  my 
respect  for  this  Assembly,  1  yet  have  npt  con¬ 
ceived  so  exalted  an  estimate  of  its  wisdom  as 
to  conclude  that  it  is  our  duty  to  establish  our¬ 
selves  as  guardians  in  this  matter,  over  the  good 
citizens  whom  we  have  left  in  our  respective 
counties  ;  or  that  it  will  be  decent  in  us  to  de¬ 
clare  to  them  upon  our  return  from  this  place, 
that  such  was  our  distrust  of  their  intelligence 
or  integrity, — that  although  grave  reasons 
called  upon  us  to  declare  the  evidence  of  Ne¬ 
groes  competent  in  certain  cases — we  did  not 
dare  to  expose  them  to  its  temptations  !  Let  oth¬ 
er  gentlemen  in  this  matter  speak  for  their  own 
constituents — as  for  me,  I  will  never  consent  to 
use  such  language  to  the  people  of  Orange ! — 
t  Who  are  we  that  we  can  with  propriety  as- 
'sume  such  airs  before  the  people  of  North  Car¬ 
olina,  trained  as  they  are  by  the  experience  of 
many  years,  and  strengthened  by  those  habits 
of  mind  which  grow  from  generation  to  gener¬ 
ation  lor  the  investigation  of  such  questions  as 
arise  in  our  courts  of  justice  ?  Having  been 
brought  by  other  reasons,  to  conclude  that  this 
testimony  ought  to  be  admitted,  I  confess  that 
I  am  shaken  in  my  purpose  by  no  apprehension 
that  any  one  of  my  constituents  is  ever  to  be  in¬ 
jured  by  it  in  courts  controlled  exclusively  by 
other  of  my  constituents.  Nor  in  this  respect 
do  I  set  my  constituents* above  those  of  any  oth¬ 
er  gentleman  upon  this  floor. 

If  then  the  white  man  cannot  be  injured  by 
the  admission  of  this  evidence,  I  may  be  per¬ 
mitted,  as  another  step  in  this  cause,  to  inquire 
why  may  not  the  Negro  have  the  satisfaction  of 
having  his  complaint  heard  in  our  tribunals?  I 
submit  as  a  reasonable  opinion  in  the  premises 
that  the  treatment  of  the  Negro,  which  will  be 
found  wisest  for  North  Carolina,  is  that  treat¬ 
ment  which  proceeds  upon  the  supposition  that 
he  is  possesseclof  human  nature.  To  that  nature 
when  in  trouble  there  is  nothing  more  consoling 
and  assuring  than  to  have  the  complaint  pa¬ 
tiently  heard  by  those  who  have  the  power  of 
giving  redress.  It  is  not  necesssary  that  there 
shall  always  be  a  favorable  decision  after  such 
hearing — the  hearing  itself  affords  consolation 
and  satisfaction  1  That  is  a  great  part  of  what 
is  insisted  upon  here.  Whether  relief  will  fol¬ 
low  must  depend  upon  the  truth  or  false¬ 
hood  of  the  statement.  If  it  be  untrue,  a  thou¬ 
sand  tests  of  such  untruth  which  do  not  exist  in 
the  case  of  a  white  man  will  cause  it  to  fall  harm¬ 
less.  If  true,  all  those  precious  interests  which  de¬ 
mand,  and  in  some  degree  guarantee,  the  final  tri¬ 
umph  of  truth  will  rejoice  over  its  reception  and 
its  success.  Meanwhile  in  having  appointed  a 
hearing  for  the  complaints  of  300,000  human  I 
beings  within  your  dominion  you  have  wisely  ! 


to 


I 


»  *  ' 


3 


created  «  udw  for  the  escape  of 'muck  ill -tam¬ 
per  which  unprovided  for  in  this  way  must  re¬ 
sult  in  the  insecurity  and  disturbance  of  the 
public  peace.  In  this  connection,  I  call  your 
earnest  attention  to  the  wise  suggestions  ot  the 
commissioners  who  have  submitted  this  bill  for 
our  consideration. 

Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  it  is 
for  the  general  good  of  society, — for  the  repose 
of  all  classes  ot  citizens,  that  every  grade  ot 
men  shall  have  free  access  to  the  common  foun¬ 
tains  of  justice.  If  they  are  debarred  from 
these,  you  provoke  a  fever  in  their  blood,  the 
results  of  which,  to  the  State,  must  be  only  evil 
and  that  continually. 

But  it  is  confidently  urged  that  if  this  privi¬ 
lege  be  conceded  others  will  necessarily  or 
naturaly  follow,  and  that  a  plea  for  Negro  tes¬ 
timony  will  prove  the  sure  forerunner  of  other 
pleas  zv  Negro  juriors,  Negro  voters,  Negro 
judges,  Negro  legislators  and  a  general  isegio 
equality.  I  own  hero  that  it  is  only  by  a  great 
inadvertance  that  the  granting  of  a  right  to 
testify  can  be  spoken  of  as  pointing  to  a  grant 
of  the  privileges  just  emuerated,  as  for  instance, 
to  that  of  voting,  or  sitting  as  a  juror.  It  is 
very  certain  that  the  distinction  between  these 
classes  of  rights  is  marked  and  substantial. 

Whether  the  right  to  testify  be  a  natural 
right  or  not  I  do  not  care,  in  this  connexion  to 
decide.  It  certainly  partakes  of  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  natural  right.  Whatever  it 
be  I  may  safely  say  that  it  is  not  a  political 
rigenti  Giving  evidence  certainly  confers  no 
political  power.  llepohSwfhs  of  Frenchman  taken 
at  Paris,  and  of  Russians  taken  at  Odessa,  have 
sometimes  swayed  verdicts  within  the  United 
States,  but  this  circumstance  has  never  sugges¬ 
ted  to  our  most  jealous  statesman  a  fear  lest 
such  an  admission  might  lead  to  there  witnesses 
being  permitted  to  vote,  or  to  sit  upon  our  juries. 
Many  classes  of  residents  amongst  us  have  long 
exercised  this  right  without  exciting  any  ap¬ 
prehension  that  thereby  they  may  come  to  think 
themselves  worthy  of  voting  or  of  giving  ver¬ 
dicts.  Negro-testimony  affords  no  shadow  of  a 
claim  for  Negro  suffrage  or  Negro  equality.  The 
1  gift  of  a  right  merely  private  does  in  no  sense 
I  point  towards  the  yielding  of  those  rights  which 
are  political. 

I  enter  fully  into  the  counsels  of  those  who 
define  this  to*  be  a  government  of  White  men. 
For  one  I  propose  that  none  but  White  men 
I  shall  participate  in  the  duty  and  distinction  of 
!  controlling  this  government.  I  maintain  that 
the  right  of  suffrage  shall  be  theirs  exclusively 
—as  also  the  duty  of  exercising  public  employ¬ 
ment  and  the  duty  of  distributing  justice.— 
Every  public  place — from  the  jury  box  to  the 
chair  of  the  President,  must  be  a  place  for  the 
White  man  alone.  It  is  obvious  that  so  long  as 
this  continues  to  be  so,  the  government  will  be 


the  White  lean's  government.  It  will  be  so  none 
the  less  because  within  his  dominion  he  permits 
Blackmon  to  live  and  labor,  or  because  he  may 
guarantee  to  him  the  protection  ot  that  life  and 
the  fruits  of  that  labor.  If  in  his  wisdom 
he  believe  it  to  be  for  the  advantage  of  the 
whole  community — whether  from  perma¬ 

nent  policy  or  for  the  present  distress — to  ap- 
pointfbne  or  another  of  the  officers  of  the  gov 
eminent  to  audit  and  settle  the  greviences  of 
the  Negro  whether  these  be  caused  by  other 
Negroes  or  by  the  ruling  class — docs  this  in  an> 
way  affect  the  question  whether  ours  is  a  gov 
ernment  of  White  men  i  I  ask  wliethei  ours  be 
more  likely  to  remain  such  a  government,  t 
showing  its  willingness  to  administer  the  ordij 
nary  and  universal  rules  of  justice  {  01  these 

rules  I  know  of  none  more  certain  than  that 
which  allows  to  all  classes  the  right  of  being 
heard  before  the  tribunals  of  justice.  I  beg  per¬ 
mission  in  this  connection  to  remind  gentlemen 
that  the  Almighty  God  has  much  to  do  with 
the  stability  of  systems  of  government.  1  am 
informed  of  no  line  of  conduct  more  1  skely  to 
attract  the  favor  of  the  great  Author  of  justice, 
than  the  exhibition  of  willingness  by  the  rulers 
of  a  country  to  do  equal  justice  to  all  of  its 
inhabitants.  He  hears  us  all ;  who  then  shall 
we  refuse  to  hear  any  ?  How  can  we  con¬ 
tract  degradation  by  listening  to  those  to 
whom  he  listens  ?  How  can  we  go  to  oui 
prayers  to  the  great  Father  of  all  men,  con- 
cious  that  among  our  fellow  men  there  are  those 
whose  prayers  we  will  not  hear  ?  What  a 
maimed  and  halting  jnstice  is  this  that,  we  aie 
invited  to  administer  to  the  ireedman  in  deii}- 
ing  him  the  right  of  drawing  liis  evidence  from 
that  class  to  which  he  belongs,  and  with  which 
most  of  his  life  must  be  passed.  I  confess  that 
I  am  so  throughly  impressed  that  this  is  to  de¬ 
ny  him  any  efficient  hearing  in  our  courts  that 
I  have  not  scrupled  in  these  remarks  to  speak 
of  his  other  right  of  access  thereto  as  m  effect 
nothing  ?  I  submit  that  in  practice  i  t  will  be 
next  to  nothing. 

Passing  to  another  class  of  arguments  in  sup¬ 
port  of  this  proposition,  I  beg  to  submit  that 
among  the  lessons  of  that  Philosophy  which 
teaches  by  example,  there  are  some  valuable  in 
the  present  connection.  That  mighty  Rcpu  > 
lie  and  Empire,  which  as  has  well  been  said, 
still  rules  the  world  bv  her  reason,  although  her 
arms  are  rust,— RoMEfhad  questions  ot  policy 
to  decide,  not  unlike  those  that  have  come  be¬ 
fore  us  She  too,  had  her  classes  ot  citizens  and 
freedmen,  and  her  clear  distinction  ot  rights 
into  political  and  privatfe.  It  is  well  that  we 
can  escape  from  the  hearts  and  prejudices  that| 
!  necessarily  surround  this  question,  considered 
in  reference  to  ourselves  exclusively,  and  survey 
it  in  connection  with  a  great  example  buued 
beneath  twenty  centuries.  I  have  made  no  rei- 


eTtinee  to  authorities  upon  this  matter  of  late,  J 
but  speak  under  general  impressions  left  by  for¬ 
mer  reading.  Through*  all  the  ages  of  her  lib- 
erty  and  good  government  Rome  made  no  more 
difficulty  in  admitting  her  treed  men  to  a  par¬ 
ticipation  in  all  private  rights  than  she  did  in 
excluding  them  from  those  which  were  political. 
Conscious  of  her  deep  interest  in  the  promotion 
ol  a  secure  and  hopeful  industry  among  all  clas¬ 
ses  of  her  inhabitants — solicitous  for  her  rep 
utation  asa  dispenser  of  justice  among  those  clas¬ 
ses,  Rome  communicated  full  rights  of  property 
ami  perl ect  rights  of  appeal  to  court  to  all  her 
treed  men.  No  less  perfect  however  was  their  ex¬ 
clusion  from  the  sacred  political  rights  of  Suf¬ 
frage,  Office  and  Intermarriage.  Only  after  her 
liberty  and  integrity  had  departed,  were  the 
liberated  slaves  admitted  to  a  free  enjoyment  of 
pol  i  tical  privileges. 

I  confess  to  some  surprise  at  hearing,  in  the 
course  ol  this  debate,  able  and  intelligent  gen¬ 
tlemen  denying  that  the  right  to  sit  upon  a  ju¬ 
ry  is  a  political  right.  I  venture,  notwithstand¬ 
ing,  to  say  that  it  is  beyond  all  reasonable 
doubt  a  political  right.  IIow  important  a  right 
ol  this  class  it  is, — how  necessary  a  bulwark  in 
popular  constitutions  is  entirely  familiar  to  all 
readers  of  English  or  American  history;  audit 
will  occur  to  every  lawyer  to  remember  that  its 
character  as  a  body  of  freeholders  is  almost  the 
only  trace  remaining  in  our  system  of  that  lead- 
ing  feature  in  the  political  philosophy  of  our 
forefathers,^  both  here  and  beyond  the  seas, 

|  which  confined  all  exercise  of  political  power 
to  the  freeholder.  Nor,  can  it  be  said  here, 
any  more  than  at  Rome,  that  the  right  of  mar- 
1  i age  in  this  connection  is  a  private  right. — 
Whatever  tends  to  obscure  or  to  confound  the 
boundaries  betwixt  two  classes,  one  of  which 
alone  is  entitled  to  political  rights  must  itself 
bo  o,j  political  importance;  and  however  safe  we 
migiic  have  been  in  leaving  this  question  to  the 
ordinary  instincts  of  our  citizens, — in  laying 
down  severe  rules  upon  it,  we  have  but  followed 
out  a  principle. 

1  cannot  take  my  leave  of  this  part  of  the 
argument  without  expressing,  what  may  be  ini 
pbee  from  that  which  has  been  said,  that  in 
my  opinion  it  were  a  wise  policy  in  North  Car¬ 
olina  to  make  a  very  sweeping  alteration  in  re- 
to  the  rules  which  affect  the  exclusion  of 
witnesses  in  our  Courf?.  I  am  in  favor  of  al¬ 
lowing  our  juries  to  hear  all  the  evidence  that 
*  may  throw  light  upon  questions  before  them, 

[  without  distinction  as  to  parties  to  the  record’ 

'  or  parties  in  interefl,  or  persons  convicted  of 
]  n  tunious  offences.  T  shall  take  every  opportun- 
ity  ol  toi  warding  this  policy.  It  is  the  policy 
o!  the  most  enlightened  nations,  and  of  the 
most  perfect  systems  of  justice.  I  may  add 
that  as  most  of  the  litigation  in  North  Caro¬ 
lina  is  settled  before  magistrates,  who  are  ip 


the  habit  of  hearing  all  witnesses  who  can 
throw  light  upon  the  matter  in  hand,  whether 
parties  or  not, — this  rule  is  already  an  establish¬ 
ed  one  in  this  State.  I  feel  confident  that  it  is 
to  the  interest  of  justice  iiere  that  it  shall  be¬ 
come  universal.  1  shall  not  elaborate  this  view. 
I  will  only  add  that  no  lawyer  can  conceive  of 
the  universal  improvement  which  civilization 
has  wrought  in  the  material  of  our  juries  with¬ 
out  being  convinced  that  much  of  that  system 
by  which  our  ancestors  sought  to  feed  jurors  as 
it  were  by  nursing  bottles,  may  well  be  dispens¬ 
ed  with.  It  is  but  in  accordance  with  these 
views  that  1  feel  strongly  impelled  to  support 
the  policy  of  admitting  the  negro  to  the  wit¬ 
ness  stand. 

I  have  as  yet  sought  to  argue  this  question 
upon  abstract  and  universal  principles.  I  re¬ 
gard  the  conclusions  that  flow  from  these  prin¬ 
ciples  ascertain,  and  as  irresistible.  But  what¬ 
ever  may  be  their  force,  I  admit  that  such  is  my 
view  of  the  character  of  the  government  under 
which  we  live  -such  is  my  respect  for  the  opin¬ 
ions  of  the  people  of  this  State  and  more  partic¬ 
ularly  of  those  people  whom  I  represent  here, 
that  under  ordinary  circumstances,  I  would  not 
have  been  willing  to  precipitate  such  legisla 
tion  upon  them — averse  fo  it  as  I  believe  them 
to  be.  I  share  the  common  opinion  as  to  the 
untruth  fulness  of  die  negro.  I  believe,  how¬ 
ever,  that  this  defect  is  not  so  much  due  to  the 
fact  that  he  is  a  negro  as  to  that  that  he  has  been 


a  slave.  Falsehood  and  theft  have  marked  the 
slave  in  all  ages  and^liyta^ri^s, ;  they  have  mark¬ 
ed  slaves  of  every  race  and  color.  The  Roman 
annalists  and  poets  speak  of  tliese  as  character¬ 
izing  the  Roman  slave  two  thousand  years  ago, 
although  he  was  sometimes  of  that  race  which 
now  shines  in  the  front  rank  of  civilization, 
both  in  Europe  and  America.  I  own  that  I 
have  not  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  Ne¬ 
gro  ought  to  be  admitted  to  testify  without 
consideration  or  without  some  variation  of 
opinion.  Starting  with  an  impression  that 
such  testimony  ought  not  to  be  admitted  for 
the  present,  after  reflection  upon  the  new  sys¬ 
tem  ol  things  around  us  and  an  observation  of 
such  signs  of  the  times  as  may  be  found  in  the 
concurrent  action  of  many  other  Southern 
States,  and  in  certain  remarks  which  upon  im¬ 
portant  occasions  have  once  and  again  fallen 
irom  the  President,  I  have  been  convinced 

(that  I  lie  speedy  admission  of  this  sort  of  evi¬ 
dence  into  our  State  courts  is  a  political  necessi¬ 
ty.  In  my  opinion  the  exigencies  of  the  hour 
do  not  admit  of  the  deference  and  delay  usual¬ 
ly  practiced  in  regard  to  great  questions  newly 
arisen.  In  times  of  great  commotion  like  those 
around  us,  all  persons  who  And  themselves  in 
public  place  must  take  a  more  than  ordinary 
share  of  responsibility.  This  is  anticipated  by 
all  their  considerate  constituents.  It  is  said  by 


H 


$ 


gentlemen  that  they  are  tso  mm%  afraid  of  their 
constituents  to  be  willing  to  vote  for  this  pro¬ 
vision  !  I  have  no  such  emotion  in  regard  to 
mine.  v\  hatever  may  come  of  it,  I  shall  return 
among  them,  at  least  erect- and  calm.  I  desire 
their  approbation,  but  no  apprehension  of  the 
contrary  can  shake  my  purpose  to  do  what  I 
think  to  be  for  their  advantage.  I  have  such 
an  opinion  of  them  that  I  believe  it  to  be  their 
will  that  I  shall  always  give  thym  the  benefit  of 
my  free  judgment  upon  such  matters.  I  may 
add  that  no  separation  from  their  confidence  in 
future  can  extinguish  my  appreciation  of  their 
i  past  kindness;  and  upon  the  only  view  in  which 
my  future  can  be  of  public  interest,  it  occurs  to 
me,  to  say  that  the  public  spirit  of  Orange 
county,  as  evidenced  by  its  selection  of  represen¬ 
tatives  in  this  Assembly  from  tljg^oundation  of 
the  government,  is  so  great  as  tbjassuro  every 
one  that  from  among  the  gentlemen  whose 
humble  agent  I  am  here,  the  county  will  choose 
I  some  one  at  leas''  1  ‘otter  prepared  than  I  am  to 
keep  upon  foot  its  well  established  reputation. 

The  arguments  which  press  this  question  to 
an  immediate  solution  are  of  course,  connected 
with  what  is  extraordinary  in  our  present  posi¬ 
tion.  All  will  admit  that  any  policy  which 
promises  to  this  State  an  early  extrication 
from  its  present  unfortunate  situation  cannot 
too  quickly  be  inaugurated,  and  followed  up.  In 
looking  over  the  various  items  which  compose 
our  troubles  it  may  well  lie  said  that  of  all  that 
harasses  our  people  with  present  vexation,  and 
lowers  over  their  future,  there  is  nothing  more 
t  distressing  or  portentous  than  the  Freedman’s 
Bureau.  I  say  nothing  ot  it  as  an  expedient 
for  th  ose  times  when  the  law  was  in  abeyance 
and  the  courts  closed.  At  present  However,  I 
;  profess  myself  willing  to  do  anything  that  is 
honorable  which  promises  its  early  and  final 
extirpation.  As  a  provision  for  times  in  which 
i  the  civil  lawr  can  be  administered  its  exsitence 
cannot  be  too  greatly  deprecated.  I  am  though- 
ly  penetrated  with  horror  in  contemplating 
such  machinery  at  full  play  among  a  people 
used  to  freedom.  I  speak  in  the  interests  of 
General  Government  as  well  as  in  those  of  the 
people  of  this  State.  It  is  not  to  the  interest 
of  public  liberty  that  an  institution  founded 
upon  such  principles,  so  military,  so  absolute 
and  for  all  practical  purposes  so  irresponsible 
should  be  successfully  administered  !  If  it  were 
so  administered  much  would  be  done  towards 
sapping  the  popular  conviction  that  free  insti- 
|  tutiona  are  the  institutions  that  are  best.  How 
bitterly  in  this  view ,  may  wTe  say  that  it  is 
most  fortunate  that  we  are  threatened  with  no 
;  such  results  !  Never  was  there  an  institution 
I  upon  this  soil  more  odious  1  Pervading  every 
,  county,  filled  in  its  lower  stations,  those  stations 
which  most  generally  come  in  contact  with  the 
citizen,  by  the  subordinate  officers  of  the  volun¬ 


teer  army,  by  persons  who  whatever  may  be 
their  gallantry  in  war  or  the  respectability  of 
their  former  lives  in  times  of  peace,  frequently 
have  but  a  most  meagre  acquaintance  with  the 
law  which  they  are  supposed  to  administer;  but 
little  knowledge  of  human  nature  out  of  uni¬ 
form,  and  make  none  of  that  allowance  which  is 
essential  for  justice  between  the  two  races  in 
North  Carolina  ; — this  Institution,  the  Freed¬ 
man’s  Bureau  at  once  threatens  the  liberty  of 
the  Government  which  administers,  it,  and  the 
self  respect  and  manhood  of  the  population  that 
is  subjected  to  its  control.  Every  instinct  con¬ 
nected  with  our  own  interests,  every  aspiration 
for  the  continuance  of  the  spirit  of  freedom  in 
our  great  country  demands  that  at  the  very 
earliest  moment  we  set  upon  foot  a  policy  that 
shall  eradicate  it  from  our  soil. 

It  is  a  well  known  vice  about  all  absolute 
governments,  that  their  oppression  ol  the  citi¬ 
zen  is  altogether  irrespective  of  the  character  of 
the  principal  figure  in  their  machinery.  In  the 
case  of  the  Freedman’s  Bureau  it  is  clear  that 
the  community  can  obtain  but  little  relief 
from  the  virtues  which  arc  said  to  mark  the  char¬ 
acter  of  General  Howard ;  as  it  is  simply  impos¬ 
sible  that  he  shall  be  able  in  person  to  regulate 
or  even  intelligently  superintend  the  working  of 
this  vast  machinery.  As  in  all  other  such  ar¬ 
rangements,  so  here,  the  subordinate  officials 
who  come  in  contact  with  the  people,  are  prac¬ 
tically  absolute  and  irresponsible.  Within  cer¬ 
tain  limits  of  injustice  at  least,  they  may  do  as 
they  please.  Who  can  afford  to  appeal  from  the 
decisions  of  the  county  administrators  of  this 
Bureau  ?  Who  can  think  of  prosecuting  in  per¬ 
son,  appeals  involving  the  petty  sums  generally 
at  stake  t-o  the  officer  in  command  at  Raleigh  ? 
It  is  plain,  that  the  counties  may  be  filled  with 
dissatisfaction  at  repeated  cases  of  injustice, 
without  this  becoming  known  to  the  Commis¬ 
sioner  at  our  capital.  I  do  not  speak  of  injus¬ 
tice  wilfully  done  ;  but  of  injustice  done  in  ig¬ 
norance,  done  from  inadvertence,  done  care¬ 
lessly,  done  as  every  thinking  person  must 
know  that  under  the  administration  of  such 
machinery,  it  is  done  over  and  often  in  every 
neighborhood  in  the  State.  I  say  in  all  serious¬ 
ness  and  with  regret  that  this  institution  is 
well  calculated  to  carry  disaffection  into  rural 
communities,  otherwise  disposed  to  entire  loy¬ 
alty.  I  say  with  equal  seriousness  and  regret, 
that  it  is  by  just  such  expedients, — collateral  as  it 
■were  to  the  legitimate  institutions  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  and  at  first  intended  solely  for  temporary 
use  and  for  an  abnormal  condition  of  public 
affairs,  that  liberty  has  been  undermined  in  re¬ 
peated  and  illustrious  cases  in  history. 

Turning  this  subject  over  in  my  mind  from 
the  point  of  view  supposed  to  be  taken  by 
the  general  government,  I  have  found  but  on6 
reason  for  continuing  this  tribunal  fttuongsf 


6 


ft#.  A#  long  a#  we  exclude  the  testimony  of 
negroes  in  oases  where  negroes  are  interested — 
so  long  there  may  be  good  ground,  in  the 
view  of  the  people  of  this  country  and  of  the 
world  at  large,  for  maintaining  this  Bureau. — 
This  is  the  reason  that  presses  us  to  immediate 
action  upon  this  matter  ?  I  do  not  say  that 
what  wo  shall  do  is  to  bear  fruit  immediate¬ 
ly  but  I  do  maintain  that  the  earlier  the  seed 
is  sown  the  earlier  the  beneficial  crop  of  a  fa¬ 
vorable  public  opinion  wdll  spring  up  among 
those  to  whose  judgment  our  action  is  sub¬ 
mitted.  Showing  ourselves  prepared  in  be¬ 
half  of  the  Negro  to  make  experiments  upon 
our  social  institutions — prepared  to  lend  a  ready 
J  ear  to  all  he  may  say  in  his  own  behalf,  we  so 
'  far  lay  the  foundation  ot  an  appeal  to  opinion 
in  the  other  States  and  in  foreign  nations  which 
at  last  will  be  irresistible.  I  hope  that  I  am 
not  misunderstood  as  referring  to  any  probable 
effect  upon  the  present  Congress.  Possibly, ‘such 
legislation  may  have  some  effect  even  there,  but 
I  make  no  calculation  upon  that.  The  present 
Congress  having  been  elected  when  the  war 
feeling  was  at  its  height  in  the  United  States, 
continues  to  campaign-it  after  the  thoughts  of 
their  constituents  have  been  turned  toward  peace. 
This  is  not  unnatural ;  at  least  it  is  a  matter  that 
may  be  reflected  upon  with  some  philosphy. 
Except  with  regard  to  such  as  lay  claim  to  be 
called  statesmen,  it  is  not  surprising  that  mem¬ 
bers  of  this  body  should  move  on  in  the 
direction  given  by  the  impulse  received  at  the 
commencement  of  their  political  existence.  I 
turn  from  it  without  much  concern  to  its 
principals,  the  People  of  the  United  States.  It 
is  upon  their  convictions  that  I  would  operate. 
It  is  upon  them  that  I  rest  those  hopes  which  I 
enjoy  of  seeing  once  more  the  United  States 
what  the  United  States  once  was — or  improved 
rather  upon  what  it  once  was  by  the  ef¬ 
fect  of  this  great  disaster— front  our  share  of 
which  we  are  now  hoping  to  emerge.  The  pres¬ 
ent,  Congress  is  but  a  cloud  which  hangs  over 
us.  That  there  should  be  such  after  the  recent 
strom  was  to  be  anticipated.  In  the  meantime 
however,  I  shall  not  consent  to  direct  my  own 
course  or  that  of  the  State,  with  any  reference  to 
elouds  which  are  drifting  across  this  wintry  sky. 

I  will  await  the  reappearance  of  those  stars  that 
behind  and  above  them. 

T  cannot  believe  it  probable  that  we  shall  be 
rid  of  the  Freedman’s  Bureau  before  we  have 
passed  a  law  like  that  before  us.  Until  we 
|  shall  have  passed  such  a  law,  we  shall  not  have 
done  our  part  towards  ridding  ourselves  of  that 
Bureau  !  I  am  unable  to  see  how  we  can  well 
ask  to  have  the  freed  man  subjected  to  our  State 
tribunals  without  promising  that  he  shall  be 
heard  in  those  tribunals.  I  have  imagined  gen¬ 
tlemen  who  oppose  this  bill  transported  to  Lon¬ 
don  or  to  Paris,  and  ther?  engaged  in  argument 


with  intelligent  lawyer#,  or  public  men  of  Eng¬ 
land  or  Franco  upon  this  grievance  of  the 
Freedman’s  Bureau.  In  such  debates  I  have 
been  at  a  loss  to  conceive  of  the  reply  which 
North  Carolinians  would  make  if  the  foreigners 
sustained  the  tribunal  upon  the  plea  that  in  it 
negro  evidence  is  heard  in  controversies  between 
persons  of  the  different  races,  whereas  in  the 
State  Courts  it  is  excluded.  The  British  and 
French  Empires  contain  within  them  races  false 
to  the  lowest  standard  of  modern  example — 
races  separated  from  the  ruling  class  by  religion 
as  well  as  by  blood  and  color, — yet  no  objection 
is  made  to  hearing  their  evidence  in  courts  of 
justice.  I  submit,  that  in  such  discussions,  it  is 
eminently  proper  that  we  bring  ourselves  to  the 
bar  of  public  opinion  in  the  Christian  world  — 
that  opinion  \vhicli  in  the  most  highly  cultivated 
countries  liOTf*decided  such  cases  as  that  before 
us  in  the  rmmner  in  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
maintain  that  it  shall  be  decided. 

Of  similar,  perhaps  greater,  value  are  the 
conclusions  of  our  Southern  sisters  in  this  mat. 
ter.  States  which  were  so  potent  with  us  for 
(war  in  1861,  may  surely  have  some  deference 
paid  to  their  examples  where  these  lead  to 
peace  !  With  one  or  two  exceptions  all  the  late 
Confederate  States  have  admitted  Negroes  to 
testify  under  the  circumstances  here  provided 
for.  There  is  in  particular  t-he  State  of  Geor¬ 
gia,  with  whose  views  our  own  have  in  times  of 
trial  been  so  greatly  in  accord.  It  has  adopted 
a  provision  identical,  I  believe,  with  the  one 
now  before  us.  So  have  Alabama  and  Mississip¬ 
pi.  In  Virginia  the  papers  tell  us  that  a  pro¬ 
vision  is  favored  which  goes  much  farther  than 
ours.  In  Tennessee,  where  the  radical  politi¬ 
cians  of  the  East  are  credited  with  a  former  de¬ 
feat  of  this  project,  a  very  recent  decision  in  its 
favor  has  been  arrived  at. 

But  gentleman  turn  from  these  examples  and 
quote  to  us  Indiana  as  worthy  to  be  followed 
in  her  policy  of  excluding  the  Negro  from  the 
witness  box.  Some  change  has  come  over  the 
face  of  things  in  North  Carolina,  when  the  ex¬ 
ample  of  Indiana  is  claimed  as  fit  to  weigh 
down  those  of  Virginia  and  Georgia.  I  am 
willing  to  put  the  case  and  leave  it  without 
comment,  excepting  the  remark  that  if  Indiana 
has  such  laws  at  home  it  were  well  for  some  of 
her  missionaries  at  Washington  to  be  reliever!, 
an  l  turned  over  to  the  domestic  field.  This  is 
but  another* instance  of  the  inconsistency  of 
sentimental  philanthropy,  and  must  be  very  far 
indeed  from  tempting  to  imitation. 

It  is  said  however  that  if  gentlemen  were 
only  convinced  that  restoration,  or  even  the  re¬ 
moval  of  the  Freedman’s  Bureau  would  follow 
the  admission  of  this  testimony  they  would  at 
once  give  it  their  favor.  They  ask  with  some 
air  of  triumph  whether  such  removal  has  follow¬ 
ed  the  passage  of  similar  laws  in  the  South- 


1 


ern  States.  They  refer  to  programs  for  restora¬ 
tion  as  contained  in  proclamations,  or  editorials 
or  speeches  some  months  ago,  and  ask  whether 
the  adoption  of  these  programs  has  resulted  in¬ 
restoration.  They  represent  themselves  as  en 
tirely  out  of  heart,  and  say  that  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  act  in  this  matter  when  we  shall 
have  seen  good  fruit  from  it  in  other  States,  or 
at  least,  when  we  have  had  proper  results  from 
|  the  concessions  that  we  have  alrt^dy  made.  To 
what  I  have  already  had  occasion 'to  urge  upon 
[this  topic  I  will  only  add  here  that  as  noble 
|  growths  are  always  slow,  we  have  to  hope  that 
!  our  tardy  progress  will  result  in  a  restoration 
perfect  and  lasting.  It  is  the  part  of  children 
to  be  visiting  our  seed  bed  every  halt  hour  to 
watch  the  results  of  our  labor,  or  at  short  in¬ 
tervals  to  dig  up  what  has  been  sown  in  order 
to  observe  whether  it  have  sprouted.  No  good 
crop  can  come  of  such  industry  or  such  continu¬ 
al  curiosity.  And  then  if  predictions  be  under 
consideration  it  may  be  well  by  way  ot  ac¬ 
curately  defining  our  present  condition  to  recall 
some  passages  in  the  Proplites  of  the  other  dis¬ 
pensation  as  to  the  condition  of  tne  South  in 
any  case  of  restoration.  In  suen  event  I  be- 
dieve,  every  acre  ot  land  was  to  be  confiscated 
and  the  very  trees  would  be  too  few  to  bear 
•the  bodies  of  those  who  should  be  executed  ! 
pOur  condition  i ascertain ly  not  a  joyous  one,  but 
Sit  is  infinitely  better  than  leading  men 
r constantly  represented  that  it  would  necessarily 
be— and  that  too  under  the  very  circum- 
i stances  which  other  persons  thought  it  would  be 
|j judicious  to  avoid  by  some  settlement  alter  the 
? close  of  the  campaign  of  18(54.  T  he  consequen- 
jees  which  have  befallen  us  when  regarded  as 
the  incidents  to  an  absolute  mbjtujatio/i  are 
surelv  not  very  wonderful.  Ihe  South  showed 
\\Xao\fimplacdbU  towards  the  United  States  to 
I  the  very  last  moment  that  it  was  a  free  agent, 
and  the  important  results  from  this  color  upon 
its  conduct  might  perhaps  have.  been  ,  avoided 
lit  those  who  had  its  destinies  in  theii  hands 
[had  made  a  proper  use  ot  that  inteival  which 
in  all  great  controversies  comes  between  the 
loss  of  a  cause  arid  the  tearing  down  ot  its  flag. 
Of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  that  tact 
has  perhaps  been  as  potent  as  any  in  producing 
the  evils  with  which  we  are  afflicted. 

I  do  'by  no  means  allude  to  this  in  any  party 
spirit.  I  produce  it  as  an  element  worthy  of 
being  considered  in  determining  the  problems 
around  us.  Nor  in  bringing  it  forward  am  I  act¬ 
uated  by  a  wish  to  evade  the  question  so  trium¬ 
phantly  urged  upon  what  is  thought  to  be  the 
ill-success  of  our  former  policy  upon  restora- 
1  tion.  Upon  that  point  1  submit  that  whilst 
much  that  we  have  wished  for  has  been  de- 
ferred  on  the  other  hand  no  little  has  been  ac¬ 
complished.  Is  not  the  machinery  of  the  State 
oucq  more  manned,  and  in  general  operation  { 


Is  not  this  a  legislature  sitting  under  the  civil 
law  ;  have  we  not  a  Governor  under  the  civil 
law;  are  not  the  judges  just  about  proceeding 
upon  their  circuits, — and  is  not  the  hand  of  vio¬ 
lence  and  fraud  already  somewhat  in  check  by 
the  fear  of  criminal  law7  now  about  to  be  set  in 
motion  under  the  wholesome  authority  ot  North 
Carolina  ?  These  are  things  of  first  rate  im¬ 
portance.  It  is  true  that  the  freedman  is  not 
wholly  subjected  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  and 
that  military  orders  throw  their  shadows  over 
the  State  tribunals— but  a  considerable  progress 
may  be  summed  up  by  saying  that  where  in 
last  September  there  was  no  civil  law  and  no 
civil  jurisdiction, now  civil  law  is  the  the  rule, and 
military  law  is  the  exception.  I  believe  that 
what  has  been  done  by  North  Carolina  towards 
restoration  has  been  wisely  done,  and  that  the 
results  are  in  a  good  degree  answerable  to 
the  design. 

AnTl  here  I  must  be  allowed  to  dissent  irom 
the  position  assumed  in  this  debate,  that  we 
ought  to  await  President  Johnson’s  express  and 
direct  declaration  that  he  will  require  the  ad¬ 
mission  of  this  sort  ot  testimony  as  a  prerequi¬ 
site  to  reconstruction.  By  no  means  !  No  man 
who  has  informed  himself  upon  this  question, 
can  doubt  that  the  President  expects  this  boon 
to  be  conferred  upon  the  Negro.  He  has  said 
as  much  in  the  course  ot  several  conversations, 
had  upon  formal  occasions,  and  in  this  he  but 
represents  the  viewrs  of  all  conservative  men  at 
the  North.  Is  it  fit  then  that  we  wait  to  be 
commanded  to  do  this  thing  ?  Does  it  corres- 
pondend  with  gentlemen’s  notions  ot  dignity 
or  good  sense  to  await  a  telegram  upon  this  sub¬ 
ject  from  the  President?  I  confess  that  my 
own  experience  in  this  matter  has  inspired  me 
with  no  great  relish  for  such  applications.  ■ 
The  State  Convention  on  the  17th  of  last  Octo- 
ter,  had  less  reason  to  believe  that  the  Presi¬ 
dent  required  an  actual  repudiation  ot  the 
war  debt  than  we  have  at  present  to  know 
his  views*  upon  Negro  testimony.  I  sub¬ 
mit  then  that  our  character  demands  that  we 
shall  use  the  faculties  which  God  lias  given  to 
us  in  discerning  the  necessities  ot  our  situation, 
and  that  we  shall  act  in  accordance  with  that 
discretion  without  awaiting  an  application  ot 
force.  I  submit  further  that  a  hearty  desire  to 
strengthen  the  President  in  the  position  which 
he  has  taken  as  regards  these  Southern  States, 
will  inspire  such  as  wish  to  co-operate  with  him 
to  meet  his  policy  halt  way  instead  ot  hanging 
back  as  an  incubus  upon  his  efforts.  Among 
other  reasons  which  influence  me  to  support 
this  bill  is  a  desire  to  sustain  the  administration 
of  ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  look  forward  with  great  con¬ 
fidence  to  the  speedy  coming  of  a  period  for  ua 
and  our  fellow-citizens  that  will  be  the  very  re 
verse  of  that  which  hangs  ©ver  our  heads.  Nor 


$ 


do  I  suffer  that  confidence  to  be  at  all  disturbed 
by  the  variations  we  experience  in  the  tempera¬ 
ture  of  any  single  days  occurring  as  we  advance. 
These  may  be  brighter,  or  more  threatening — 
but  in  the  meantime  what  concerns  me,  is  that 
the  seasons  are  going  forward  !  I  fancy  that  it 
is  much  the  same  with  the  political  as  with  the 
physical  skies.  In  this  month  of  February 
we  know  that  the  sun  is  upon  his  track  towards 
the  northern  tropic.  To  day  we  are  enjoying  a 
clear  and  temperate  atmosphere,  by  to-morrow 
the  weather  may  be  inclement,  yet  for  that  no 
one  will  doubt  that  the  intervening  hours  have 
advanced  us  towards  the  breezes,  the  flowers,  the 
fruits  and  smiling  skies  of  Spring  and  Summer. 
Too  minute  attention  to  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
mercury  only  serves  to  confound  one’s  judgment 
of  the  weather.  “He  that  observeththe  wind  shall 
not  sow  ;  and  he  that  regardeth  the  clouds  shall 
not  reap.”  For  one  sir,  I  practise  myself  in  look¬ 
ing  across  this  fleeting  revolutionary  present^to 
that  not  distant  time  when  North  Carolina 
shall  be  taking  her  part  in  that  Miracle-drama 
which  is  now  going  on  upon  this  continent 
from  shore  to  shore ;  when  the  voices  of  her 


- 


citizens,  the  hum  of  her  prosperous  industry 
and  the  clash  a lu  clang  of  machinery  in  a 
thousand  forms  through  her  borders  shall  swell 
the  volume  of  that  mighty  harmony,  that 
concordia  disc&i's— which  rises  to  Heaven  from 
the  occupations  and  achievements:  of  this  so 
great  a  people. 

For  the  present  I  would  have  the  State  con¬ 
sult  for  the  welfare  and  interest  of  all  within 
her  rule  uninfluenced  by  the  hubbub  and  folly 
which  surround#her.  Having  nothing  to  blush 
for  or  repent  of  in  the  sad  past,  I  would  have 
her  in  all  calmness  and  without  care  await  the 
recognition  of  her  just  claims.  I  recall  the  elo¬ 
quent  reference  by  Macaulay  to  the  portrait  ot 
Hastings  as  it  hung  in  the  old  English  Hall — 
and  to  the  noble  motto  upon  the  coat  of  arms, 
and  pray  that  hereafter  in  contemplating  the 
whole  course  of  our  State  in  this  revolution 
past,  present  and  to  come,  nothing  may  appear 
upon  it  out  of  character  with  her  old  resolution 
and  serenity  — nothing  unworthy  of  that  mens 
..equa  in  arduis  of  which  her  recent  course  fur¬ 
nishes  abundant  proof. 


ft 


M  • 


Photomount 
Pamphlet 
Binder 
Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
PAT.  JAN  21,  1808 


UNIVERSE  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00037547093 


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